Sean Polvinale: a gamer's progress
3
'I think they're still a few years away,' says Polvinale carefully, about the team's chances of contending for a playoff berth. 'That said, for the first time, the team has good management. And I'm so happy that they fired [former Browns coach Eric] Mangini! He just wasn't a good fit for the team.'
'They need playmakers badly,' Polvinale adds. 'I'd love it if they added [Georgia wide receiver] AJ Green in the draft. He'd be a great target for [quarterback] Colt McCoy.'
Polvinale feels no less strongly about the Cleveland Cavs.
'Losing all those games just now was rough - and don't get me started on LeBron - but I think that now, people are finally ready to look forward.'
The most surprising thing about Polvinale, though, isn't his love for video games or the Browns. Rather, it's his abiding love for the written word. Thinking him to be a fellow journalism student, Polvinale quickly, but gently, corrects me.
'English. I'm majoring in English.'
When I express mild surprise, he smiles.
'I love words. I love playing with them, seeing how they fit together, how you can paint different pictures with them. I thought about majoring in journalism,' he adds with a wry smile. 'Then I thought, well, let me take this to its logical conclusion and just study English, full stop. I haven't regretted it for a single moment.'
With a smile, and a sly wink, Polvinale places his hands on the table, then swiftly propels himself upward - and onward. A firm handshake, a quick farewelling word, and the gamer continues his progress.
Onward, and upward.